Churchill Downs officials on Thursday released the stakes schedule for the 2014 spring meet, with little change from the status quo and an increase in stakes purses of almost 3 percent.
The 140th Kentucky Derby on May 3 serves as the traditional high point of the meet, which features 24 stakes worth almost $7.7 million in total.
The $2 million Kentucky Derby will culminate a weekend that includes 11 other stakes, most notably the $1 million Kentucky Oaks on May 2.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The Chicago Blackhawks were to play their final game before the break for the Olympic Games on Friday night in Arizona. Ten members of the team are heading to Russia to represent their home countries, looking for medals. Their head coach, though, has a much shorter commute on Saturday, a quick hop to California, and probably wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In Trouble, whose 2-year-old season was cut short due to a chip in a knee, is working steadily toward his 3-year-old debut, which could come in the Grade 3, $500,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct on March 2, trainer Tony Dutrow said.
“In a perfect world – and things are pretty close to perfect right now – I’m hoping for the Gotham,” Dutrow said from south Florida, where In Trouble is in training at the Palm Meadows training center.
Vicar’s in Trouble had his first timed workout since he won the Jan. 18 Lecomte by almost seven lengths, breezing a half-mile in company Feb. 2 in 49.40 seconds. Trained by Mike Maker for Ken and Sarah Ramsey, the Louisiana-bred by Into Mischief is an intended starter in the Risen Star at Fair Grounds on Feb. 22.
Trainer Mark Casse confirmed Conquest Titan, a late-running second behind Cairo Prince in the Grade 2 Holy Bull Stakes last month, as a definite starter Feb. 22 in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth.
“I was very pleased with his effort in the Holy Bull,” said Casse, who was at Oaklawn Park on Wednesday but planned to be in town to watch Conquest Titan work at Palm Meadows over the weekend. “I wasn’t expecting him to win, I just wanted to see if he belonged in that company, and he made a nice run after getting back a little farther than I’d have liked.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Joel Rosario will ride Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes winner Strong Mandate in the Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 17, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said. The race will be Strong Mandate’s first since he finished third under Rosario to New Year’s Day in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Sheltowee’s Boy could put himself in a position for a start in next month’s Grade 2, $600,000 Rebel based on his performance Thursday in the eighth race at Oaklawn Park. He’s seeking the second win of his young career in the optional $50,000 claiming route at a mile that carries first-level allowance conditions.
The race restricted to 3-year-olds drew a field of seven, including impressive maiden special weight winner Bitters ’n Bourbon.
Mondays typically are busy work days in the Steve Asmussen barn, and this week at Fair Grounds was no exception, with Asmussen putting most of his top horses in New Orleans through timed breezes.
Among the workers were Asmussen’s two leading 3-year-old hopes: Tapiture worked six furlongs in 1:12.80, and Gold Hawk went five-eighths in a snappy 1:00.60.
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – A training chart with 41 horses isn’t all that uncommon. Many of the top trainers in North America have at least that many horses to look after. The powerhouse stables have two or three times that number, some even more.
